Back and Feeling Groovy

It's amazing how travel can really give you a fresh perspective AND make you eat some humble pie all at the same time. My co-worker asked me if I felt "changed" at all and I had to think for a minute before I seriously said, "You know, I kinda do".

We just arrived home last week after a fun-filled, adventure-packed 3 weeks in Eastern Europe. Charlie Bravo and I are quick to correct anyone who has asked us how our vacation was because vacation it was not. It was a full time job but not in the horrible 9-5 sense. We packed our days full of seeing the sights, arranging travel connections, cafe breaks, timing it just right to catch a historic view at sunset and asking our hosts about local customs in their respective countries.

There were rental cars, buses, ferries, overnight trains, more stairs than I've ever climbed and times when I thought my calves would fall right off. Faux-pas were made (trying to pay with Polish money in the Czech Republic) and we had to learn to deal with a much more laid back attitude to ferry schedules and getting proper directions and just go with the flow (example - waiting for a ferry connection that never arrived, being told the other ferry was "not too far away" and then running 3 miles with our heavy backpacks to another part of the island. phew!)

It was so refreshing to visit somewhere so completely foreign to us as we had never been to that part of Europe before. We really felt far away from home in regards to language (no french or spanish!) and history than our past travels have taken us. It was the first time traveling to places that had, historically, the most horrific things happen. We saw these events here in the States on t.v but I remember not really grasping what was going on. One example would be visiting the beautiful city of Mostar in Bosnia-Herzegovina. They've rebuilt most of their city since the war in '93 but it's so amazing to still see bomb blasts and bullet holes everywhere, a reminder of what happened not long ago.

One of the best things about traveling is the people watching. I LOVED people watching, checking out their style and daily pace wherever we went, so different from my own. It would be so crazy to be visiting the oldest and dinkiest of towns and seeing that even the kids there wear skinny jeans! And speaking about pants, a big trend I saw everywhere were "harem" pants, like mc hammer pants but not as ugly. Not sure I would even consider those for my closet but I did see some young gals definitely pulling off the look.

*sigh* I could go on but I'll stop. It's back to reality and getting back to my routine of work BUT not without my new perspective:

Slow down a little, look around more, BREATHE and enjoy the moment.

That was one thing that I really did on this trip. I was really in the moment and I didn't think much of anything else. I don't want to forget this now that I'm back. But I have to admit I'm already thinking of where I'm going on my next trip....